I haven't played my old hifi for some time as the crackling is offputting. As I was recently blown out of the water by a friends Cyrus etc set up, I think that it is time that I did. I have a budget of around £2000 and thought of the What Hifi 2006 recommendations of Cyrus 6 , Kandy and Monitor Audio BR5. A dealer recommends Cyrus6, Cyrus 6vs and Monitor Audio RS8 which I heard and liked. The Cyrus also looked neat but whether I will get the speakers past my wife is debatable - she detests my old Monitor Audio speakers on a floor stand.

I'd welcome views on that set up - my room is 22ft by 12 with the speakers sited at one end. Speaker siting is a problem given the layout of the room. Also would it make sense to connect my old turntable to the new kit? It was a top of the range Linn Sondek LP12 with an SME arm, bought in the mid 70s. If not, any recommendations on a replacement turntable? If the cost is too high, it might be better to replace the vinal by CDs.

Wouldn't have too many problems with either system, and if you heard and like the Cyrus/MA combo who are we to argue? Consider adding an extra power amp to biamp whichever speakers you buy - you won't regret it.

If the speakers are the stumbling point, you could try PMC's GB1s, which are a little smaller and slimmer, or step down the MA range to the RS6s. I'm no expert on increasing the spousal acceptance factor, as my wife insisted we had bigger speakers last time the subject arose, but catalogues from the companies involved showing range of wood finishes on offer may help smooth the way.

The Linn? Without any question, keep it. And use it. The Cyrus phono stage will be required, but then think how much you'll have saved in not buying a new turntable to equal or better the Linn. As a heads-up, an LP12 with Lingo power supply but without arm or cartridge will now cost you the better part of £2500.

Thanks, Andrew, for your advice. I am not inclined to pay over a grand on speakers so I will have to sell the RS8 to my wife. I will keep the LP12 and have found a Linn dealer who will service it. He is talking about possible upgrades. The LP12 has had no upgrades and I would welcome advice on what would be required and the likely costs.

There's some information on the latest upgrades on the Linn website, but to find out at what level your turntable is you'll need a list of all the upgrades made over the past 35 years, and the rough serial numbers corresponding to the changes.

I'm sure this used to be on the Linn website, but it seems to have vanished now. Fortunately there are copies of the list out there on t'interweb - one of the clearest I've found is on this Australian site. The only significant omissions from this list appear to be latest cartridges, Ekos SE arm, the revised Trampolin baseboard and the new Keel subchassis/armboard, none of which will I suspect be of much relevance to the set-up you have.

Just to give some idea of how far things have come, the Keel looks like this

and alone is priced at just shy of £2000, while the Trampolin baseboard is £140.

I don't claim to be any kind of a Linn expert, (though one of these days I'm going to bite the bullet and buy a decent used LP12), or in fact anywhere near being one. And I'm afraid I don't have to hand the cost of these various upgrades - that's something best discussed with your retailer. Perhaps if you post on this forum your LP12's date and serial number someone more on the ball with this classic turntable will be able to advise you as to which upgrades are most useful.